X-ray absorption spectroscopy of diluted system by undulator photon source and multi-element solid-state detector

In order to measure the extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectrum of an ultra-diluted system, an optics and detector control system for a synchrotron radiation beamline is developed. The undulator gap width is continuously tuned to obtain the maximum X-ray photon flux during the energy scan for the EXAFS measurement. A piezoelectric translator optimizes the parallelism of the double crystal in a monochromator at each measurement point to compensate for mechanical errors of the monochromator. resulting in a smooth and intense Xray photon flux during the measurement. For a detection of a weak fluorescence signal from diluted samples, a 19-element solid-state detector and digital signal processor are used. A K-edge EXAFS spectrum of iron in a myoglobin aqueous solution with a concentration of 5.58 parts per million was obtained by this system. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.